It’s been quite a while since I posted here, but now I can assure you that I haven’t (a) retired or (b) been kidnapped by aliens. I’ve just been getting settled in an exciting new gig.

For those who haven’t followed these posts, I joined a mass exodus from from The Baltimore Sun last August after 38 years in newspapers, and began looking for, shall we say, new career opportunities. Meaning new job.
It took a while, but I finally found one in daily journalism: this time in a medium that’s strictly online. I’m deputy managing editor of MedPage Today, a site that brings the latest breaking medical news to an audience of doctors and other medical professionals, as well as ordinary folks who want straight, accurate, informed reporting that hasn’t been dumbed down.

Although I was medical and science editor of The Sun before my departure, MedPage Today is a lot more intense. First, there’s the subject matter, which is more technical and focused than our coverage at The Sun. Second, there’s the Beast That Always Needs Feeding. I’m talking about The Web. Instead of fixed deadlines, the Web demands constant updating — which really brings me back to my roots at the late and lamented Evening Sun, an afternoon paper with five editions that we fed all day. It was fun then, and thanks to the talented people I work with, it’s fun now.

I am also a real telecommuter for the first time. World Headquarters of MedPage Today is a skyscraper in Little Falls, N.J., a New York suburb off the Garden State Parkway with a spectacular view of the Manhattan skyline (if you ride one of the glassed-in elevators or you’re the boss and have a corner office). While a hard core of news, production and business staffers work there, other reporters and editors are scattered around North America — from Toronto to Cleveland to Wheeling to Houston to Washington to San Jose. And of course, in Baltimore, where my commute consists of heading downstairs to my office in the basement.

Telecommuting definitely has its ups and downs. On one hand, I miss the cameraderie of the newsroom; on the other, I don’t miss spending two to four hours a day commuting by car or rail, like a lot of folks who live in Baltimore but work in the Washington area (where the jobs are these days). What has amazed me is how well a small but complex news operation — one that posts lots of audio and video recorded by a far-flung staff — can operate using the Internet and telephones.

This missive is to let you know that I haven’t given up on technology — I’ve been writing about it for a quarter of a century and don’t plan to give up now. It just took me a while to switch gears and get comfortable in a new setting. Henceforth, I will do my best to keep up the same flow of misinformation, disinformation and bad advice das readers have enjoyed so much over the years.